This paper examines empirically whether and how regional integration leads to convergence and growth amongst developing countries. Using standard growth models for nearly 100 developing countries over 1970-2004 we cannot establish robust growth effects of regional integration as such at the...

We present a three-sector general equilibrium model with an informal sector, which produces an intermediate input for the formal sector, to analyze the effects of different policies on the environmental standard of the economy. The formal sector is made to pay a pollution emission tax for any...

Currently, the European Union is negotiating an free trade agreement, called Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), with Caribbean countries as part of the Cotonou Agreement between the European Union and African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. The paper empirically assesses the impact of the...

The principal goal of integration in Europe has always been the safeguarding of peace through economic integration. The European Union (EU) has overseen splendid economic achievements. A sign of that great success has been the EU’s continuous enlargement. The eurozone is the crown jewel in the...

The ASEAN+3 proposal has attracted attention in Asia and the world. We argue that a free trade agreement (FTA) for ASEAN+3 is beneficial to all member countries due to three factors: (i) existing and expected vertical foreign direct investment linkage between Japan/Korea and ASEAN member...

This study extends previous research by comparing banks across European Union (EU) accession and non-accession countries of central-eastern Europe in order to detect differences that perhaps have implications related to policy prescriptions for joining the EU. Using commercial banking data from...

The Doha multilateral round of trade negotiations sponsored by the WTO has been dragging on for over a decade, with no end in sight. In this short paper we assess empirically what determines the duration of trade negotiations, focusing on the span between the start of trade talks and their...

We consider some of the important economic constraints faced by landlocked economies in a game theoretic framework that involves its neighbor that has access to the ocean. We identify the strengths that the landlocked economy might have or develop through policy in order to negotiate with its...

This study identifies income convergence in Europe over 1960 to 2012. The Great Recession since 2008 reversed the GDP per capita convergence in the EU-15, but the extransition countries have mostly continued to catch up. We found this by analysing the Sigma convergence of GDP per capita in the...

This article analyses and explains the real convergence process in MENA countries over the past 50 years. It provides a threefold contribution. Firstly, given the recent increasing attention paid to the Euro-Mediterranean area, it focuses on the convergence of MENA countries towards the EU per...